Many computing environments process and transmit information having different security classification levels. For example, military computing environments process classified information having security levels such as top secret and secret, as well as unclassified information. Typically, unclassified information is separated from classified information in these computing environments, so that classified information is not improperly passed to an unsecured computing environment. Keeping unclassified information separated from classified information has dictated separate processing environments and interconnection networks, such as separate black processing environments for processing unclassified or encrypted data, and red processing environments for processing unencrypted classified data.
Partitioned processing environments have been developed that enable single processors to host Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS). For example, the AAMP7G processor manufactured by Rockwell Collins of Cedar Rapids, Iowa utilizes a National Security Agency (NSA) certified brickwall Partition Management Unit (PMU) to enforce separation of processes, while a MILS Real Time Operating System (RTOS) provides process separation with a software implemented partitioning environment, which can operate on Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) processors.
Connecting these partitioned processing environments to an interconnection network is problematic, as typical interconnection networks are not aware of partition or security separation. For instance, when an Ethernet message (frame) is transmitted from a first processing environment to a second processing environment in an Ethernet network, other processing environments connected to the first and second processing environments via the Ethernet medium may receive and examine the frame, as well.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an interconnection network for connecting partitioned processing environments while maintaining partition and security separation for information having different security levels transmitted within the interconnection network.